Inmate talks about cell phone use

CARLISLE, Ind. (WTHI) -  

You've learned about cell phones in prison, and how they get in , but what happens once an inmate has one?

News 10 spoke with an inmate who had a cell phone. He agreed to talk about his experiences; however, for safety reasons, he asked that we mask his identity.

He will be called Inmate P.

“It was someone in here that had it already, and I got it from them,” Inmate P said when asked how he obtained the phone.

Though a cell phone has many uses, he said he had one real reason for using it.

“I did nothing but talk to my family, my friends, people I hadn’t talk to in years,” said P.

Though Inmate P’s connection with the outside world provided him a luxury, it was also extremely dangerous for him. In prison, a cell phone made him a target to the inmates that wanted it and to the guards who didn’t know he had it.

Inmate P tried to keep it concealed, which worked for about a year, until one random cell search.

Guards went through his room, but he hid the phone on his person. Then came a shower search, that’s when Inmate P said he slipped up.

“It was just a little corner that was hanging out underneath my shoe, and the officer did his job, and he was getting ready to hand me my clothes back, but he looked back and they seen it, and they give me that,” Inmate P said.

The cell phone was immediately confiscated and Inmate P was punished. Officials took away his prison job and he’s been heavily monitored since.

News 10 asked him if he had the chance, would he do it again.

“I’m going to say no, because it’s a matter of repercussions. It was far too great for, you know, everything that I gave up and lost,” P said.

However, there are plenty who still would, and unlike Inmate P, many have not been caught.

Click on the associated story to find out what officials are trying to do to fight the cell phone problem.